Making your own plant food

[allmytimeonmumsnet]

There are masses and masses of clumps of wild comfrey growing near me. Every year I vow to set up a system to make them into plant food but I never come up with anything that works - the pipe with a tap on the end (how do you attach the tap) and bucket draining into another bucket (nothing happens).........

Last night looking at my little book of garden heros I found that dandelion leaves and dock leaves are also excellent at accummulating minerals for plant food.

Well I've just been to the garden centre and the organic food is so expensive so I'm determined to make my own.

I was wondering if this would work instead of the above methods. What if I use a plastic bottle. Stuff it with the leaves and top up with water. Then leave under the shelving in my greenhouse for weeks/ months (?) Would the leaves dissolved into the water to make plant food. If this would work then it seems much easier than any of the other rigs. I can get the kids stuffing bottles and it will come in easy to use portions. It will also be a good way of recycling all those milk cartons etc.

So what do you reckon? Will this work?

[MrsWho]

no idea but if it does can you make me some

(or at least give us the recipe)

[allmytimeonmumsnet]

Well I reckon a mix of nettle (need gloves!), comfrey, dandelion and dock leaves should be about right. Think I will give it a go anyway although I might just end up with a smelly mess!

[burek]

well... having read your post because I too wanted to know the answer, you have managed to send me on a voyage of discovery. Firstly I found that our land is COVERED in comfrey (although I didn't know that that is what it was). And then I found this for you, which I hope helps:

"Comfrey liquid fertiliser can be produced by either rotting leaves down in rainwater for 4-5 weeks to produce a ready to use 'comfrey tea', or by stacking dry leaves under a weight in a container with a hole in the base. When the leaves decompose a thick black comfrey concentrate is collected. This must be diluted at 15:1 before use."

All I need now is some rain and to kick my neighbour's goats off the land to stop them eating all the comfrey . Thank you very much for your post!

[allmytimeonmumsnet]

Burek - glad to help
I keep putting leaves in a bucket but I've never had any sticky black goo - they just seem to dry out. Thats why I wondered about "stewing" them instead. So glad you have found a reference to the tea. It seemed logical to me but I never managed to find anything about it. I will go ahead now. I'm also going to add dandelion leaves and dock leaves too because they also amass minerals and I figure that variety will produce a better all round mix.

I'm going to try it with the 4 pint milk cartons first rather than pop bottles as the hole is slightly bigger but it may be that I need to come up with something a bit larger, although using the milk cartons will be good as I end up with so many of them in my recycling. Actually thinking about it the water carrier we used to use for camping has a lovely big hole........

[allmytimeonmumsnet]

Well DD2 (3.5) and I spent a pleasant morning sat outside the greenhouse stuffing nettle and comfrey leaves into milk cartons. Have to say it was easy enough but I did wear gloves. Might be a bit hard on the fingers after a while if you don't and mature comfrey is quite abrasive. Anyway greenhouse entrance is now clear of comfrey and nettles and I have 3 "bottles" brewing under the shelving. I half filled one after stuffing it to the max, the next one I completely filled. Thought it worthwhile to experiment at this stage. We had nearly finished when DD2 anounced she needed a wee and I suddenly thought - perfect compost activator - so rather than trailing back to the house she squautted over a pot and we poured it in the final bottle! I will report back in a few weeks if I get some lovely black gunge.

[burek]

fantastic, esp the bit about DD peeing in to milk carton
will be doing it myself v soon too I think. The nettles around the place are looking v lush too.
keep us posted.

[burek]

ok, correction... will be filling bottles with nettles and comfrey, not peeing in to them